Halina Mark

Lauren

Halina, thank you so much for joining us. I'd love to get an introduction — can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do?

Halina

Thank you so much for having me. My name is Halina, and I currently work at DJK Custom Homes, which is a new construction home builder. More specifically, I'm the lead designer for DJK's in-house design studio, called Refined Design Studio.

Lauren

Tell me more about what that entails.

Halina

Refined Design Studio was developed about three years ago to help clients who come in to build luxury new construction homes navigate the design process. Building a home is genuinely complicated for people who don't do it every day — there are so many selections, so many decisions. We're here to guide them through all of it: not just helping pick finishes, but making sure everything looks cohesive and beautiful, and that they're not making choices they'll regret later.

I always use the Pinterest fail as a reference. You know that feeling — you see a picture, you know you love it, but when you try to recreate it yourself, something is just off. A lot of the time, it comes down to scale, the wrong color tones, details you didn't even notice consciously, but that were doing a lot of the visual work. Those subtle things are what create the feeling you get when you look at a photo that just pulls you in. We're there to be conscious of all of it and bring it to life. It's the same as any other specialty — you wouldn't take your car to a mechanic and then say "actually, I've got it from here" after watching for an hour. Building a home is no different. You need someone who does this every day in your corner.

Lauren

You haven't always worked in this industry, but you've always had a design eye. Let's talk about that — how did you get to where you are?

Halina

It's funny — I did one of those time capsule letters when I was young, a letter to my future self. When I opened it years later, I had written that when I built a house, I needed to make sure it had big windows, and that at Christmas, I only wanted white lights, no colored ones. Even as a kid, I had this innate sense of what I wanted a space to feel like.

But I didn't go to school for design right away. I got my marketing and management degree at DePaul. It wasn't my passion — I knew that from the start, and if you looked at my LinkedIn, you'd see about a two-and-a-half-year run at each marketing job I had. I was moving on, not because I was job-hopping, but because none of it was what I cared about.

So I went back to school on the side, while still working, and got my design degree alongside a real estate license — I always thought those two things went hand in hand. Eventually, I made the leap, started a design business, which was short-lived, honestly. The fear of being on my own for the first time got to me. Coming from a consistent paycheck, stepping out felt daunting.

But the way I actually landed at DJK is a great story. I walked into the Cavalcade of Homes — a series of new construction tours in the area — and when I walked into DJK's model, I was genuinely taken aback by the design compared to every other builder I'd visited. I struck up a conversation and told the team how impressed I was. One of the salespeople asked if I'd ever considered working with a builder. It was actually on my list of goals. And from there, things fell into place. Now we're even opening a standalone Refined Design Studio shop in Naperville. It hasn't always been design, but here I am. 

Lauren

Walking away from a corporate career isn't just about the paycheck — it's what the paycheck provides. The lifestyle, the security. What helped you make that leap? Did you have a support system, a mentor, something that gave you a framework for the transition?

Halina

Everyone needs a mentor — I don't care what position you're in. And it doesn't have to be just one person; it can come from many different people around you. The people in my life knew my background and were genuinely cheering me on, telling me I could do this. That matters so much.

But honestly, beyond the support system, it really came down to believing in yourself. At some point, you have to ask: what are we doing? If you're not happy in a job, you need to pivot. Life is short. There's no reason to just struggle every day. And I always want to surround myself with people who are better than me — people I can aspire toward and learn from. Greatness comes from being around greatness.

Maybe the timing with having kids wasn't ideal, but it felt right. So I just made the leap.

Lauren

I love that mindset — if you're not happy at your job, it's on you to do something about it. Not just sit back and accept it.

Halina

Exactly. And there's also this dangerous mindset of "I went to school for this" or "this is what I've always done." That's what gets people stuck on the hamster wheel — just monotony, and a growing resentment toward what they're doing every day. But those things aren't permanent. You can break away. Especially right now, there are so many ways to make a living that aren't a traditional nine-to-five. The clients I work with who have the most freedom are almost always business owners — entrepreneurs who took risks and built something. 

And it's not like they knocked it out of the park the first time. One client just bought a home with us and paid cash. I asked what he did — he told me this was his eighth business. Eight. That's the thing: your first job or your first business is not your end-all be-all. If you're not happy, pivot. Get creative. Make a career out of your passion.

Lauren

Can you tell me more about what problem you solve — day to day, for your clients?

Halina

I solve anxiety. That's the most honest way to put it. When you're building a house, everything comes at you at once — countertops, appliances, roofing, exterior, flooring — and it's completely overwhelming if you don't do this every day. I break it down into something more palatable. I help clients understand what needs to come first, both from a design standpoint and because we need certain materials locked in to stay on the construction schedule.

I'm also there to make sure no one makes costly mistakes they'll regret once they're settled in. Not to upsell — I genuinely don't care what people put in their homes — but to bring up the "what if" scenarios. The most expensive purchase of most people's lives shouldn't come with a list of "I wish someone had told me that was an option."

But honestly, it's deeper than selections. I'm helping people live a fantastic life. Think about how much time you spend in your home. How you feel when you walk in matters. A well-designed space changes your mood. It makes your daily routine easier. It lets you relax. When I ask what appliances you cook with, whether you need storage for your mixer, how you actually use your kitchen — that's not nitpicking. That's making sure in a year you're not standing in your beautiful new house wondering where everything is supposed to go.

Lauren

Do you have a design philosophy or a guiding principle you apply to your work?

Halina

Every room needs an inspiration point — something strong and consistent that anchors everything else. It could be a color, an object, a texture. Just something to jump off from. Without that, you're just selecting things in a vacuum.

And then beyond that, my real philosophy is: understand how you actually live. I ask clients to picture themselves a year from now, sitting in that room. What are you doing in there? What's messy right now in your current house that drives you crazy? What are you constantly working around? A new construction build is a rare opportunity to solve all of those problems — don't just recreate what you had. Fix it.

I also think furniture is massively underestimated in new construction. It comes late in the process so people deprioritize it, but furniture placement is as important as any finish selection. Where a sofa floats, where sconces flank a console, whether a table actually fits the room — these things make or break the livability of a space. A designer's eye isn't just for the walls and floors. It has to carry all the way through.

Lauren

How do you think about future-proofing a home? Because tastes change, life changes — how do you design for that?

Halina

It's genuinely tricky, because trends move fast. The classic advice is to stick with neutrals for the big-ticket, expensive-to-change elements — the things that are going to cost a lot to undo — and then play with personality in the things that are easy to swap out. Paint is easy. A rug is easy. Cabinets are not easy.

But I'll also be honest: I don't think you need to design something to last 30 years. Your own taste changes faster than that anyway. I look at design I did in my own house eight years ago and I'm mentally ready to redo it. And that's okay. It doesn't have to be forever — it just has to be right for right now, built on a foundation that won't cost you a fortune to refresh in five or ten years.

And really, design should be for you. Not for Instagram, not for Pinterest. I love seeing clients make bold choices because it makes them happy when they walk through the door every day. That's the whole point.

Lauren

How could the system better support women? And I mean the bigger system — not just corporate, but life in general.

Halina

Times have changed, and there are so many women deeply focused on their careers. But I still think women carry an uneven share of responsibility at home. And that's where a lot of the overwhelm comes from. It's why so many of us hit our 40s and just stop having capacity for things that don't matter — we've been driven to pure exhaustion.

The mental load is real. Our minds are constantly running lists, checking things off, holding all the threads at once. And that doesn't disappear at 5pm when the workday ends. So what I'd love is for there to be a broader understanding — not just from partners at home, but from colleagues and leadership at work — that women are managing a lot more than is visible. Flexibility isn't a perk, it's a need. And the expectation that we can be 100% at work and 100% as a mom and 100% as a partner — something has to give, and it usually gives in the direction of ourselves.

We also need to support each other. Women supporting women. Letting each other off the hook. It's okay if you're not exactly where you thought you'd be right now. This is just the season you're in. Pick your priority for this moment and let the rest be less than perfect. That's not failure — that's just life.

Lauren

Do you have a productivity tip — something that helps you stay focused when everything feels like too much?

Halina

Goal setting. I think it's really important to write down where you want to be — not just professionally, but physically, personally, all of it. It doesn't have to be elaborate or feel cheesy. It's just about being mindful of what you're actually striving for, and putting a timeline on it. When you don't do that, time flies and you look up and feel stuck or disappointed without really knowing why. But when you're actively working toward something, you stay proactive. Just always be reaching for the next thing — with the caveat that you can't always be in full-on striving mode or you'll burn out. Balance the growth mindset with permission to rest.

Lauren

Last question: what would you tell your younger self?

Halina

Take more risks. Don't feel obligated to follow the prescribed path — graduate, get a stable job, stay in your lane. When you're young, you don't yet have a lifestyle you feel like you have to protect. You're expected to eat ramen and live in a small apartment. That's the perfect time to take swings, because the downside is so much smaller and the upside can follow you for the rest of your life.

I ended up taking my biggest risks when I already had two kids, which made everything scarier and harder than it needed to be. So I would tell my younger self: have a more entrepreneurial spirit. Start something you love, build something you're proud of. Do it early. The rewards compound over time in ways you can't even imagine when you're in it.